Coursework & Practice Reflection

Internship Performance Criteria 4 states “The teacher uses content area knowledge, learning standards, appropriate pedagogy and resources to design and deliver curricula and instruction to impact student learning.”  In other words, the teacher must plan and implement successful instructional methods and strategies. 

During this course, we walked through nine themes relating to content knowledge: 1) assessing prior knowledge 2) integrating student assets 3) teaching academic language 4) scaffolding 5) supporting 6) deepening 7) providing and responding to feedback 8) student reflection 9) teacher reflection. When I began the course, I believed I had a pretty good idea of how to assess prior knowledge, scaffold learning, and reflect on my own practices.  That said, the biggest areas of growth for me were in integrating student assets, supporting, deepening, feedback, and student reflection.  My classes definitely benefitted from my learning in this course as I provided more inquiry based instruction, meaningful feedback, and opportunities for student reflection.  One of the ways I implemented inquiry was by asking students to identify the weaknesses in their performance rather than pointing them out myself.  The students were able to practice academic language and classes consisted of more opportunities for student voice.  Students also felt more confident and competent when they were able to evaluate their own performance and they deepened their learning by thinking critically about how to improve our ensemble sound. 

Additionally providing more meaningful, specific, and timely verbal and written feedback for in class and on assignments students were given the support necessary to reflect on ways they could improve.  I also made a point to reinforce and support academic language when providing feedback.  For example, I may re-state a student’s comment using correct academic vocabulary or ask the student to restate his or her comment using academic language.  Though painful at first, this commitment to consistent use of academic language has made each student more active and confident participants in our classroom discourse.  

Finally, by differentiating elements of my lessons, I was able to support all the learners in my classroom.  For example, I had a student struggling with melodic dictation.  In order to support her, I worked would come by and sing her whatever melody  she had written on her staff measure-by-measure and then play the original melody again.  She was able to compare the two melodies and change the “wrong” notes by noticing whether the “right” note was higher or lower.  Eventually, after a few weeks she was able to sing the melody to herself and self-correct the wrong notes.

Clearly, it is important to incorporate all of these themes when planning and implementing instruction.

ISTE 5: Professional Development Through Technology

ISTE 5

Good educators know that continued professional development is the key to a successful and lengthy career.  That said, professional development is evolving as our world makes more and more technological advances.  Online professional learning is becoming a commonplace method of professional development.  

This week, I researched the communities, resources, and methods that educators are using to continue developing their instructional strategies through the effective use of technology.  

The timing of this study was uncanny as I had just completed a teacher in-service where my fellow teachers and I collaborated and shared our ideas and successes with incorporating technology in class and as a school. I find face-to-face interaction with my colleagues to be especially valuable because I enjoy discussion and appreciate the innovative ideas that come out of establishing a collaborative culture within our school.  

That said, my research allowed me to discover many methods and opportunities for professional development through the use of technology.  Engaging in professional communities through social media platforms, blogs, or online discussion boards gives educators chances to ask questions, develop relationships, and share resources with educators around the world (EdSurge, 2014). 

Moreover, technology delivers learning opportunities for teachers at the click of a mouse.  In fact, many national educator associations are investing in online courses, videos, webinars, and more as they strive to provide accessible instruction for their members.  Gone are the days of traveling long distances for workshops and conferences.  Now teachers can sit in the comfort of their own home and learn about the latest trends in education.  Teachers can also find support from mentors and coaches in online professional learning communities.  Feedback on professional practice has never been so easy! Digital tools also allow teachers to track data on their students’ performance in a way measures the effectiveness of their instructional strategies.  This measurable data is useful when debriefing with administrators following a formal observation.  

It is clear to me that technology has opened up a whole new world of professional development possibilities.  I still enjoy collaborating with my colleagues in person, but I look forward to joining a professional learning community in order to expand my network and learn from those outside my school.

Resources

How Teachers Are Learning: Professional Development Remix (EdSurge Guides). (2014). Retrieved March 11, 2017, from https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/how-teachers-are-learning-professional-development-remix

Digital Citizenship Poster

This week, I polled my high school students fellow staff members for their opinions on which of the eight digital citizenship topics (referred to in a previous blog post) represents the most immediate need for instruction and training in students ages 13-17.  Over 55% of the 60 participants in the poll believed that understanding one's "Digital Footprint" was the most immediate need.  In talking to some of the students, they specifically expressed concern over social media postings by friends. Due to these comments I developed a poster  that identifies some of the things students should think about before posting, considering once the comment or photo is uploaded, it is forever a part of their digital footprint.